Updated 12:05 a.m., Thursday, April 19, 2012

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Spurs coach Gregg Popovich openly admits his first impressions of Tony Parker were not what you would call positive.

“I thought he was unfocused. I thought he was too cool,” Popovich said, recalling a workout before the 2001 draft. “I thought he was soft.”

Parker persuaded the team to give him a second workout, and he impressed enough for the Spurs to spend the 28th pick on him.

In the 10-plus seasons since, Parker has rewarded the Spurs with four All-Star appearances, one All-NBA mention, an NBA Finals MVP award and three championships.

Before Wednesday’s game against the Kings at Power Balance Pavilion, Popovich reflected on the time he’s spent with Parker, as what he calls the point guard’s best NBA season hits the home stretch.

Parker is averaging 18.6 points and a career-best 7.7 assists. Beyond the numbers, Parker — who turns 30 next month — has blossomed into the type of floor general modeling the Spurs’ first championship-winning point guard, Avery Johnson.

Parker’s command of the Spurs, keeping them in front of the Western Conference in a season in which Manu Ginobili has missed 30 games and Tim Duncan is flirting with a career low in minutes, has elevated the Frenchman to at least the outskirts of the league MVP discussion.

“It was something we talked about, and we wanted and we gave him as a challenge,” Popovich said. “He fulfilled the challenge and the expectations. This has been his best year.”

Historic victory: The Spurs’ 112-91 victory at the Staples Center on Tuesday matched the most lopsided regular-season road win over the Lakers in franchise history.

It was the first time the Spurs had beaten the Lakers in Los Angeles by at least 21 points since Feb. 15, 1983, when they scored a 124-103 triumph.

In 2003, the Spurs closed out a Western Conference semifinals series against the Lakers with a 110-82 road win in Game 6.

Tuesday’s outcome marked a 35-point swing from six days earlier, when the Lakers had scored a 98-84 victory at the AT&T Center.

“I think we were very motivated,” Parker said. “Obviously, we were not happy with our performance in our place. We wanted to get it back.”

Finger pokin’? Not so good: Spurs swingman Danny Green played one season in Cleveland with Delonte West, the Dallas guard fined $25,000 by the NBA on Wednesday for a bizarre incident involving Utah’s Gordon Hayward.

Upset with a third early foul call in the Mavericks’ loss at Utah on Monday, West responded by purposefully sticking his finger in Hayward’s ear.

Green said he was aware of the incident, which has become known as the “West willie” by many in the national media.

“He was a character, man,” said Green, who shared a Cavaliers locker room with West as a rookie in 2009-10. “One of the funniest dudes you’ll ever meet. The kid (Hayward) must have made him mad. He didn’t respond in the best way.”